Album Review | Busta Rhymes – When Disaster Strikes…

This album was released on September 16th in 1997. The Coming was fucking incredible, so I don’t really have any reason to believe that this album won’t also be really fuckin’ good. I don’t really have anything to say before listening. I just wanna go ahead and listen to this shit. Hopefully it’s as good as his first album. I don’t think this is considered a classic album tho. Is it? I really have no idea… Lemme Google this shit real quick… Okay, yeah. It seems like there’s a decent amount of people who consider this to be a classic album. I guess any album with a track like Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See is a classic. Fuckin’ love that song… Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. I’m gonna love this shit either way.

Track 1: Intro Feat. Dolemite

Okay, this intro is similar to that of The Coming. It’s really dramatic. Lord Have Mercy is talking about how the world’s gonna end in 2000. Busta had kind of a weird obsession with the apocalypse. Okay, now he’s saying the Flipmode Squad is gonna be the cause of the end of the world. “This particular motherfucker will strike with an unmeasurable blast, and fuck up everything within his 360º radius.” Oh shit. A beat just came on. Woooow. Okay, fuckin’ Dolemite is talkin’ to Busta Rhymes now. Lmao. Alright, now Spliff Star is sayin’ some random shit. This is just a really long winded intro. Pretty much everything I said about the intro for The Coming can be said about this one. I’m obviously not gonna rate it since it isn’t a song.

Track 2: The Whole World Lookin’ At Me (Prod. DJ Scratch)

Alright, here we go. This hook is pretty bad. Busta’s singing. It’s not good. The beat’s cool tho. The first verse was dope af. He’s still rappin’ his ass off. Fuck. The hook kinda sucks, but the verses are fantastic. Especially the second verse. He killed this shit. The hook doesn’t completely ruin the song, but it definitely hurts it for me. There’s not really much else to say about this track. It’s just a standard Busta Rhymes track. He’s not really doing anything different from what was on The Coming. That’s a good thing tho because I fuckin’ loved that shit. I fuck with this song. This is dope. 4/5

Track 3: Survival Hungry (Prod. DJ Scratch)

This beat is really dope. Wow… This is another song with a wack hook. Damn. This beat is awesome. Busta killed that first verse. This shit would be fucking fantastic if the hook was better. Or nonexistent. Got… DAMN. Busta’s fuckin’ murdering this shit. “Give me the whole entire wheel of fortune / Making a sacrifice no matter what the shit be costing / And while you coughing I be flossing like a fuckin dolphin / A lot of bitch rich niggas experience extortion.” I don’t know why it’s so fun to listen to him rhyme. His flow and delivery are just flawless. “My style is real, like lamb skin imported from the Persian / Follow my excursion, all the way ’til you feelin’ the new revised version.” He killed this shit. This is dope. 4/5

Track 4: When Disaster Strikes (Prod. DJ Scratch)

This beat is dope af. Busta’s flow is so smooth on this first verse. I like his melodic delivery too. Once again, I’m not feelin’ the hook. He’s singing again, and it’s not very good. It’s fine tho. He killed that second verse. His flow is so fuckin’ precise. Every syllable is exactly where it should be. This is a dope song. Just like with the other songs, the sung hook kinda brought the shit down for me. I still like the song tho. 4/5

Track 5: So Hardcore (Prod. The Ummah)

Okay, this shit should be great. OOOOooooooooooh fuuuuuuuuuuck… Yes. Yes, God. This beat is fucking fantastic. Busta sounds so fucking good over this smoooooth ass production. “You’re so wack you make people start cursin’ / Flows contradict worser than the King James version / Turn on your mic but your shit will stop workin’ / Beats brutalize your whole rhyme; your head hurtin’.” The hook thankfully isn’t bad. Yes. This is definitely my favorite song on the album so far. Holy fuck. He fuckin’ ripped that second verse apart. Gotdamn. This shit is so fucking awesome. “Right before I hit you off with my vaccine / Starch, carbohydrates, lots of protein / Maxine, baby girl, yo I hope your ass clean / Magazine frontin’, fly lips is lime green.” I LIVE FOR THIS SHIT. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 6: Get High Tonight (Prod. DJ Scratch)

This song is basically Busta Rhymes’ interpolation of Get Down Tonight by KC & The Sunshine Band. “Buy a nickel bag / Smoke a little lye / Get high tonight.” The beat’s not bad. The hook lasts way too long. Holy shit. Busta’s fucking murdering this first verse. “When your arms are open, my palms release the bomb / Reviving the alarm, my word is my bond / Scream at niggas through the intercom, up to date, let’s roller skate / Yo my whole squad smoking; ain’t straight unless we smoking at a high rate.” This is so dope. It seems like he’s even better at rhyming on this album than he was on The Coming. I usually don’t find songs about weed very interesting, but Busta Rhymes is incapable of being boring. This is dope. 4/5

Track 7: Turn It Up (Prod. Busta Rhymes)

This beat is nothing special. Holy fuck. He fucking slaughtered that first verse. The way he stretched that rhyme scheme out was crazy. The hook is dope. This sounds so old school. I love this shit. Jesus. The second verse was insane too. He’s just so fucking… He’s just really fuckin’ good at his job. I don’t know how else to say it. He’s so good. Why the fuck doesn’t he get more credit? He’s got to be one of the most under-appreciated MCs of all time. People acknowledge him as a legend, but he’s rarely ever brought up when people are talking about their favorite rappers or albums. He killed every single verse on this shit. This dude is incredible. This is dope af. 5/5

Aaaaaah shit. Here we go. This is a classic song, and the music video is legendary. First of all, this beat is smooth as fuck. I love it. This song was pretty much the first time Busta rapped without yelling every bar like Meek Mill. He sounds smooth as fuck over this cool ass beat. His flow is so fucking… Well… Smooth. That’s really the only word I can use to describe a lot of this shit. Especially that hook. Man… WOOOO! It’s so fucking dope. I love the way the production evolves during the hook. “Do you really wanna party with me / Let me see just what you got for me / Put all your hands where my eyes could see / Straight buckwildin’ in the place to be.” His flow is so fuckin’ tight all over this track. I love the last four bars on this track. “Oh shit, my whole clique victorious / Taking no prisoners niggas is straight up warriors / While you feeling that I know you be feeling so glorious / Then I blitz and reminisce on my nigga Notorious.” That victorious line sounds so fuckin’ dope. I won’t be surprised if this ends up being my favorite song on the album. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 9: It’s All Good (Prod. M. Bolden & Latief)

This song is apparently unavailable on the United States version of this album, due to it’s sexual content. I really don’t like Pornocore, but maybe he’ll surprise me and pull it off in a dope way. I’ll give it a chance. It’s starting now. Oh fuuuuuck. This beat is smooooth as FUCK. It’s really fuckin’ jazzy. This is great. Oh God… “The type of chick that always want to take it there / She don’t care, ready to FUCK anywhere / Make a nigga want to bust ’til my legs cripple / Put your breasts in my face, tell me ‘bite the nipples.‘” Nope. Not good. I really don’t get shit like this. Why the fuck would I wanna hear this kinda stuff? I can’t stand this shit. The only thing I like about this track is the beat. “I like the way you lick it, the way you suck it / The way you tell me you want the right dick to fuck it / The dick rest upon the pussy hair like wool / Grab my ass and pull, say you want your pussy hole full.” Jesus fuck. No. This song is fucking awful. I’m sorry. I can’t take this shit. It hurts to have to give him such a harsh critique, but this is horrible. I can’t fuck with this shit. This is wack af. 1/5

I probably should’ve just reviewed the United States version… This beat is dope. It sounds like a Disco beat. This dude Jamal is awesome. I should go back and review his shit. I loved his verse on Flipmode Squad Meets Def Squad, and his flow is fantastic on this shit. Busta comes in right behind him and kills this shit too. Both of their flows are so fucking good. The hook is dope. Gotdamn. Jamal killed the next verse, and the way Busta came in again was so fucking cool. This is awesome. “Break, fool, niggas know the rules; rob jewels / Champagne bath, throw the Moet in the pool / Nigga caught a motherfuckin’ strain on the brain / Ridin on the train, Ima whip a Benz in the rain.” They both fuckin’ killed this shit. Their flows were so fucking good. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 11: We Could Take It Outside Feat. The Flipmode Squad (Prod. DJ Scratch)

Okay, so there have been a shit load of different MCs in The Flipmode Squad over the years, so I’ll see exactly who’s on this track. Okay, it looks like we got Rampage, Serious, Spliff Star, Baby Sham, Rah Digga, and Lord Have Mercy. So I guess this is like this album’s equivalent of Flipmode Squad Meets Def Squad. I’m not familiar with Serious or Baby Sham. I’ve heard of Spliff Star & Rah Digga, but I’ve never actually heard either of them rap. I love Rampage & Lord Have Mercy. It’s starting now. Oooh fuck… This beat is fucking awesome. Shit. This is probably my favorite beat on the whole album so far. Fuuuck, man. This is fucking awesome. The first verse from Rampage was awesome. Wooah. This Serious dude sounds like fuckin’ Danny Brown. This is so fucking cool. Man, what happened to all these dope ass MCs from the Flipmode Squad? Why the fuck didn’t we ever get a Lord Have Mercy album? I fucking love that dude… Spliff Star’s verse was alright. The hook is cool. Baby Sham did her thing. Her voice reminds me of Foxy Brown. Rah Digga’s verse was dope. Lord Have Mercy’s verse was awesome. Fuck, man. That guy’s so fuckin’ dope. Lmao. I wish he was still dropping music. Busta Rhymes had the best verse. I guess that shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Anyway, if it for whatever reason isn’t already clear, I fucking love this song. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 12: Rhymes Galore (Prod. Rashad Smith)

Holy fuck. This is awesome. Lmao. I love this beat, and, as you might’ve guessed from the song title, Busta’s rhymin’ his fuckin’ ass off. “Excuse me, Mrs. / Sure to hit you with the fitness / Give you niggas the sickest, jumpin’ Jehovah Witness / Beamin’ in on niggas plottin’ and schemin’ / And steady dreamin’ on how they gon’ do they double-teamin’.” He fuckin’ killed this shit. It’s just one long ass verse, but it’s SOOO fucking good. This motherfucker can fucking rap. Lmao. Gotdamn. I definitely fuck with this track. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 13: Things We Be Doin’ For Money, Pt. 1 (Prod. Easy Mo Bee)

This beat is dope af. Okay, this shit is HARD. Busta’s actually talkin’ about robbing people. I don’t think Busta’s ever been a gangsta or anything, but he doesn’t seem like a dude you’d wanna mess with. “I stay on some real trife shit / Test your life shit, or even stab you on some knife shit / Fake it if you wanna fake it, if I see it, then I want it, then I take it / Leaving niggas ass naked.” This shit is so gangsta. I wasn’t expecting anything like this from Busta Rhymes. It’s awesome tho. “The victim contemplating what to do or / How the fuck to get out of the situation that he’s going through / This nigga tried to grab the gat, you know I started clapping / Bet y’all niggas wanna know how the rest of the story happened…” Okay, this is fucking dope. I think it’s cool how he made this story into two separate songs. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Wooah… Bruh… This is genius… Lmao. Now he’s rapping from the perspective of the dude he was trying to rob in the previous track. Him & Rampage are trading bars; they’re planning on getting revenge on the guys that tried to rob him. This is so cool. Bruh… This is so fucking awesome. They’re telling this really in-depth story about a crazy ass gunfight between the Flipmode Squad and these fuckboys who tried to rob him. “Shit ain’t going according to plan / Goddamn, my shit jammed / Nigga standing right behind me / I think I’m caught up on a creep.” This is so fucking cool. Anthony Hamilton sang his fucking ass off on the outro. Goddamn, that boy can sing. The Chosen Generation is a choir, and they’re pretty much just Anthony’s background singers. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 15: One Feat. Erykah Badu (Prod. Rockwilder)

This beat is dope af. Erykah sounds so fucking smooth on this shit. I love her. Busta did his thing on that first verse. I guess this is supposed to be a love song. “Common destiny amongst all / One understanding amongst me and my woman, so that we can’t fall / And keep movin’ forward based on actual fact / Yes, y’all, my beautiful Mother Earth; respect her to the max.” Y’all know I don’t usually like love songs, but I think he actually did a really good job with this. He’s not just rhyming about sex; you can actually tell that he cares about this woman. “When times is hopeless, sometimes I had to focus / On the priceless moments when my Wisdom Body wouldn’t notice / ‘Cause you’re my everything; what’s mines’ll be yours / Movin’ in the same direction just for one common cause.” This is nice. WOAH. Erykah’s rapping right now. This is awesome. She’s trading bars with him. This is so fucking cool. “Now don’t let my ambition make you feel like competition / We should both play a role in our whole livin’ condition / I know you symbolize the strength inside the family / Then show me you can handle womanly responsibilities.” I definitely fuck with this track. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 16: Dangerous (Prod. Rashad Smith)

Oh shit? This beat is fucking awesome. I guess this could be considered Electro Hop. The beat has kind of a House vibe. Busta’s flow is on point, as always. “Afraid of us; you know this ain’t no game to us / You strange to us; that’s when we gettin’ dangerous.” The hook is cool. Busta’s flow is so fucking smooth on this shit. The second verse was great. I don’t really have anything to say about this one. It’s just a really catchy single. The beat is great, and Busta’s flow was fantastic. This is dope af to me. 5/5

This beat is smoooother than a BITCH. Puffy’s rapping the first verse. I actually like it. His flow & delivery are really laid back. It sounds really good over this beat. Rampage’s verse was pretty cool. The hook isn’t bad. Mase is goin’ in now. His flow was REALLY fuckin’ smooth. Holy fuck. Gotdamn. Busta’s flow was so fucking dope. Lmao. He somehow manages to blow me the fuck away on every single track. His flow is so fucking good. I really fuck with this track. Diddy’s verse was surprisingly enjoyable for me. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 18: Get Off My Block Feat. Lord Have Mercy (Prod. DJ Scratch)

I’m glad I’m getting another Lord Have Mercy feature. His style is so fucking cool to me. This beat is dope. Busta seems a lot more confrontational on this album than he was on the previous one. “Get off my premises; yo, Lord, is you a friend of his? / Mouth him back to John and show this nigga just who the winner is / The presence of a small town, I diminish the blemishes / And my player amps out like a game on my little Sega Genesis.” He killed the first verse. His flow is so fucking nice. The hook is cool. Fuuuck. YES. Lord Have Mercy is goin’ in. God, this dude just sounds so fucking awesome. I think I said this when I reviewed The Coming, but he sounds like if the guy who says “FATALITY” & “FLAWLESS VICTORY” in Mortal Kombat was a rapper. He’s fuckin’ spazzin’ on this shit. “Automatically, assault and battery / We battle thieves that get tragically slapped to sleep to relax the beef.” Yes. I love this shit. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 19: Outro (Preparation For The Final World Front)

Okay, so I guess this outro is a teaser for the next album, Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front. There’s not really anything for me to say about this track. Busta’s just thanking the listeners for enjoying his music. There’s some Ol’ Dirty Bastardish singing in the background. Okay, now he’s talking about how the world’s about to end. He’s telling us to prepare for the final world front. Cool. I guess…

Final Thoughts:

This album is amazing. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Busta’s first album, but he’s still rapping his ass off. I actually think he’s shown improvement as an MC on this album. The only reason I didn’t like it quite as much is because some of the hooks were kinda bad. Also, that It’s All Good track really fucked this shit up for me. But hey, it’s not on the US version, so I guess that’s a good thing. I’m not even really sure what to say about this project. Almost everything I said about The Coming applies to this album. The beats are dope, and Busta is a fucking monstrous MC. Again, this dude is seriously under appreciated. People really don’t give him the credit he deserves. This shit is dope af to me. I can’t wait to listen to his next album.

Published by OG Nick Marsh

I am not a music expert. My reviews are completely subjective and should not sway anyone’s opinion on any musical project. I don’t grade albums based on how “good” they are objectively. The score they receive depends on how much I enjoy them personally.
View all posts by OG Nick Marsh

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3 comments

Well to start off a lot of the Flipmode cats, just weren’t marketable in the eyes of Elektra higher ups, so they squandered around after 2000. Rah Digga and Rampage were always my personal favorites.

(If you’re into collecting physical album’s, like yours truly) then it’s good to cop the European pressing​ just for the sake of how rare it is.

Onto the album itself probably on my top 10 favorite Hip Hop album’s of 1997. Personal favorites​ include “Put Your Hands….”, “Dangerous” both parts of “Things We Do”, “One” and “Not A Problem…”.

Sidenote (1): Jamal has one album that dropped in October of ’95 (outside of an unreleased album on Yukmouth’s label that was recorded between 2006-2007 though I hear there isn’t any tracks that have been leaked), so that should be a quick lil thing.

Sidenote (2): Check out these B-Sides that were on featured the “Dangerous” single.